Following each game in the 2023 Pittsburgh Steelers season, I will highlight the event or string of events in the game that is the turning point. Not all turning points will be earth-shattering but are meant to give a unique look at how we arrived at the outcome of the game, one that may be hard to see during the live watch.
The Pittsburgh Steelers managed a victory against the Los Angeles Rams on Sunday afternoon to move to 4-2 on the season. These West Coast wins for the Steelers are hard to come by, but Mike Tomlin and his team were prepared for the challenge and delivered an important Week Seven victory. Coming off the bye week, the Steelers regained one of their star players in WR Diontae Johnson. He was sidelined for a month with a hamstring injury suffered in Week One against the San Francisco 49ers.
His absence was felt as the offense struggled to put together drives outside of the occasional George Pickens explosive play. Johnson is the best route runner on the team and among the best in the league, so he is an important component of the offense and can be relied upon to get open the quickest out of all the Steelers’ receivers.
Johnson ended the Week Seven game with five receptions for 79 yards on six targets. He would have had close to 100 yards if not for an illegal blindside block by Pickens at the end of the first quarter that negated a 19-yard catch-and-run on third down. Johnson did end up getting an explosive play in this game, and it was an important one. On the first play of the fourth quarter, Johnson ran a whip route where he faked the out route before whipping back inside to create space and make the defender miss. From there he had the middle of the field to work with and plenty of space. He ended up bouncing back outside and running up the sideline for a 39-yard gain.
The defensive back was playing with outside leverage to take away any out routes near the sticks on third down, so Johnson’s whip route worked perfectly and bought him just enough room to make the first defender miss. From there, he was off to the races with plenty of room to maneuver.
The Steelers have been feast or famine with their yards after the catch with most of them coming on deep passes run into the end zone this season. They have been lacking the catch-short, run-long type of plays on display by Johnson here, which is a testament to his route running and his elusiveness with the ball in his hands.
It was 3rd down with 8 yards to go back on the Steelers’ own 43. The Steelers were just one-for-seven on third down to that point, so third and long was looking rather daunting at the time. With a seven-point deficit entering the fourth quarter, this drive seemed make or break towards the outcome of the game. Johnson’s 39-yard catch moved that drive from 0.700 expected points to 4.370 — the biggest single-play differential of the game for the Steelers’ offense.
Two plays later, Jaylen Warren would run the ball 13 yards into the end zone to tie the game at 17. From there, the Steelers had back-to-back 10-play drives to score more points and ultimately end the game with the offense on the field. Those last two drives totaled 10:44 time of possession for the Steelers to make up their large deficit from the rest of the game.
Head Coach Mike Tomlin, QB Kenny Pickett, and Pickens all spoke about the importance of having Johnson back in their postgame press conferences as it allowed guys like Pickens to be singled up in coverage more often than usual. Pickens had 100-plus yards for his second straight game. This wide receiver duo should open the offense a good bit. Boy, is it nice to have Diontae Johnson back.
